I'm trying to figure out what purpose is served by hiding information on the drugs used in an execution. Do the idiots seriously believe that if the public knows, they'll start getting cases where friends, relatives or cronies of death row inmates start smuggling in something to counteract the drugs used for an execution. It's just all around shitty. I guess we'll have to hope that SCOTUS does the right thing, since they're hearing a similar case in their next session.
ChanusHarbinger of the Spicy Rooster ApocalypseThe Flames of a Thousand Collapsed StarsRegistered Userregular
edited February 2015
Yeah, LGBT protections passed the Senate yesterday on a tie-breaker vote from Northam (because a couple Republicans actaully voted for it) but it hasn't passed the House yet.
I'm trying to figure out what purpose is served by hiding information on the drugs used in an execution. Do the idiots seriously believe that if the public knows, they'll start getting cases where friends, relatives or cronies of death row inmates start smuggling in something to counteract the drugs used for an execution. It's just all around shitty. I guess we'll have to hope that SCOTUS does the right thing, since they're hearing a similar case in their next session.
I imagine it's mostly just an "out of sight, out of mind" type of thought process where they figure they get the law passed, then people forget about the whole these drugs and their use in executions are fucking disgusting thing, and then the pharma companies continue taking piles of money from the Commonwealth.
I'm trying to figure out what purpose is served by hiding information on the drugs used in an execution. Do the idiots seriously believe that if the public knows, they'll start getting cases where friends, relatives or cronies of death row inmates start smuggling in something to counteract the drugs used for an execution. It's just all around shitty. I guess we'll have to hope that SCOTUS does the right thing, since they're hearing a similar case in their next session.
Out of left field, it might be to prevent the manufacturers from being harassed into stopping production or providing such drugs. USA has a problem with getting anesthesia at the moment because a more common chemical in them gets used in executions as well, and the EU has a ban on providing such chemicals if they could be going towards executions like that. So we get blocked from getting those chemicals.
edit: reading about the bill seems to be to hide the chemicals involved so we can continue to get them. Seems like a side step so hospitals can continue to get the stuff they need, instead of the intent of making us stop killing people.
RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia House of Delegates Committee on Appropriations presented its proposed amendments to the 2014-2016 biennial state budget Sunday. The House budget proposal sets aside $99.5 million for a future rainy-day fund deposit, eliminates $10.2 million in fees and $42.5 million in debt proposed by Governor McAuliffe, and provides funding for pay raises for state police, state employees, teachers and state-supported local employees.
Part of me wonders what the catch here is because that quote makes it sound non-shitty, but this is a budget out of the VA House. So there is probably something in there that is really fucking vile. I'm pretty sure it's going to be worst than continue to subsidize the coal industry for another 4 years (free market my ass).
As for the Dominion Bill, well it underwent a radical transformation.
Richmond, Va. - This afternoon, at Democrats' behest, the Senate adopted a series of strongly pro-environment amendments that resolved substantial issues with SB 1349. The bill, introduced by Senator Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach), freezes base rates for Dominion customers over a five-year period and gives the company an increased level of stability as it works to comply with new EPA regulations - but stakeholders had raised serious concerns relating to the environmental impact of the bill and its lack of accountability. Democrats secured improvements that addressed many of those concerns, adding (among other changes) a path that would help utilities increase their use of clean solar energy; removing ideologically-charged language that could have slowed our transition to clean, renewable energy; and clarifying that certain existing oversights and reviews will remain in place. The final bill passed on a vote of 32-6.
Speaking to the amended bill on the Senate Floor, Senator Donald McEachin (D-Henrico) said: "We have created the opportunity for more solar power in the Commonwealth of Virginia than has ever been had before. That is progress. Is it as far as some of us would like to go? Is it as far as I would like to go? No, it's not. But it's progress, it is verifiable progress, you cannot deny that we have made progress in that area, it is a good thing that we have done today... Today has been a great day for the environment and that's why it's a good day for Virginia."
Senator Kenny Alexander (D-Norfolk) said, "When we started, there were some concerns about the bill. One of the things that I had concerns about was whether or not we had more solar, whether we had more energy efficiency, whether we would truly cut emissions and whether we freeze the base rate. But the important thing was whether or not we would have continued oversight from the State Corporation Commission. And now we do.[...] So today is a good day and I want to thank all of those who were involved and especially this Caucus for helping with the amendments."
In a statement released to reporters earlier this afternoon by the Southern Environmental Law Center, SELC Director Cale Jaffe said, "As Virginians work to build a new, clean energy economy, we need to take advantage of job-creation opportunities in solar energy and energy efficiency. The version of Senate Bill 1349 that passed the Senate today does just that. Senator McEachin deserves immense credit for bringing all stakeholders together to deliver real progress. Thanks to Senator McEachin's hard work, the legislation that passed today will create more jobs right here in Virginia in the solar and energy efficiency industries."
Well I read the linked budget bill article a bit, and the raise is 1.5% for police and state employees, and 2% for state supported employees or whatever, and this includes a "compression adjustment" for senior personnel (whatever that means). There isn't any comparison to what was proposed by the governor except things like "Eliminates $42.5 million in debt proposed by Governor McAuliffe." It also mentions that there won't be an expansion of Medicaid, instead providing funding to 29,000 seriously mentally-ill patients, nearly doubling funding for free clinics, increasing funding for children's psychiatry and crisis services as well as funding behavioral health community services.
There is also funding for education listed, including a 2% faculty pay raise (except for UVA, VT and W&M), incentives for institutions with low graduation rates to accept transfers, funding for cancer research and funding for capital construction projects at JMU, VT, Longwood, Radford and VCU.
Basically it looks like an attempt to make their budget look impressive, especially with the lack of comparisons to the Governor's proposed budget except in cases where they are pretty sure the changes will make them look better. I haven't had a chance to look up the proposed budget to see what other differences are not mentioned, though obviously the expansion of Medicaid is a big one.
VA Senate rejects a bill to authorize prayer at public government meetings
Wouldn't have expected Baptist groups to be against it, but apparently they were one of the groups opposed to the bill.
A lot of local governments have had religious leaders from non traditionally represented religions lead prayers before, including muslims. I think it was entirely a "if we cant win, noone can play" situation.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that public government meetings can be opened with prayer that has distinctly sectarian language. The town in question supposedly was open to other religions giving the prayer, but in practice the prayer was almost always given by Christian chaplain.
That is weird. The Supremes just cleared the way for that too. This is a fairly good article on the subject about how and why it was let go. Mostly "We've always done this back to the founding, therefor it is okay."
So the tea party extremists in the VA House of Delegates decided to prove that even a stopped clocked, is at least right some of the time. The shitty bill that would have made secret, what drugs were used for executions, died in the house today 56-42 (no vote included every Democrat + enough Teapublicans to kill the bill). source
Shame this couldn't happen to the awful Dominion Bill. I'm hoping the Governor vetoes it, but given how the veto works in this state, there are other options (I kind of liked the suggestion, that he should send the bill back where it leaves in the rate freeze but also has rate cuts, just to put all the ratfuckers on the spot. Obviously, if he amends it in any way, it should remove the part of the bill that would remove oversight). I will not be surprised if we see a number of indictments in the future tied to this whole shit show (it's pretty clear corruption and I do wonder if the bill is even legal, since I think it flies in the face of some federal laws).
That leading Virginian Republican, William Howell, has represented the commonwealth’s 28th District in the House of Delegates since 1992 and is facing a credible primary challenger who has won support from one of the nation’s most prominent conservatives. Susan Stimpson, who is challenging Howell, previously chaired the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and ran unsuccessfully to be the Republicans’ 2013 lieutenant governor nominee. The primary is on June 9.
If Howell goes down, he’ll be joining a string of powerful Virginia Republicans who have been eliminated in primary campaigns, and he’ll give an extra jolt of vim to the Virginia grassroots conservative activists looking to grow their influence in the state party. The most obvious example of their effectiveness is the saga of former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who lost last year to then-professor Dave Brat in a primary upset that astounded literally everyone, including Brat. In fact, Cantor’s high-profile defeat wasn’t without precedent. In June 2013, Virginia Delegates Joe May and Beverly Sherwood both lost to upstart conservative primary challengers who targeted them for backing a hefty tax hike. Both were longtime members of the House of Delegates, and both chaired committees.
So the tea party extremists in the VA House of Delegates decided to prove that even a stopped clocked, is at least right some of the time. The shitty bill that would have made secret, what drugs were used for executions, died in the house today 56-42 (no vote included every Democrat + enough Teapublicans to kill the bill). source
Shame this couldn't happen to the awful Dominion Bill. I'm hoping the Governor vetoes it, but given how the veto works in this state, there are other options (I kind of liked the suggestion, that he should send the bill back where it leaves in the rate freeze but also has rate cuts, just to put all the ratfuckers on the spot. Obviously, if he amends it in any way, it should remove the part of the bill that would remove oversight). I will not be surprised if we see a number of indictments in the future tied to this whole shit show (it's pretty clear corruption and I do wonder if the bill is even legal, since I think it flies in the face of some federal laws).
The potential downside to this is that we potentially lose access to necessary chemicals for medical procedures. Because its more important to be able to kill someone than have anesthesia to save lives. Or did we ever figure out the other reason for the bill besides europes banning they have been doing and "dont let people know how awful lethal injection actually is".
The order requires ABC special agents to be trained on use of force, cultural diversity, effective interaction with youth and young adults and community policing. The training must be completed by September 1 and will be certified by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
It also put the Chief Operating Officer of the ABC over the department's law enforcement and convenes an expert review panel to come up with a list of recommendations and changes to the agency.
Perhaps most importantly, the ABC will have to enter an agreement with college communities which clearly defines the roles of agents in conjunction with local law enforcement.
A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 Friday that Virginia legislators must redraw the state’s congressional map by Sept. 1 because it packs too many blacks into the 3rd Congressional District, diluting their voting strength.
“Because plaintiffs have shown that race predominated in Virginia’s 2012 plan and because defendants have failed to establish that this race-based redistricting satisfies strict scrutiny, we find that the 2012 plan is unconstitutional and will require the commonwealth to draw a new congressional district plan,” wrote Allyson K. Duncan, a judge with the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Liam O’Grady, a U.S. District Court judge.
Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne dissented.
Changes to the 3rd District could trigger revisions elsewhere, possibly jeopardizing the Republicans’ 8-3 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation.
I don't suppose anyone has an "in" with the Virginia Board of Elections, do they? It's proving to be extremely difficult getting information straight from the State; everywhere else is inconsistent.
Delegate Joe Preston, who is apparently competing for Senator Rosalyn Dance's position this election, has some... unique(ly terrible) views on LGBT Folks using the bathroom:
But Preston stood firm on his opposition to allowing transgender schoolchildren from using a bathroom opposite from their birth sex.
“I’m against people of different genders sharing bathrooms,” he said. “I actually think that gay people should have their own restrooms.”
Preston elaborated, noting that a straight person might feel uncomfortable using the restroom if they knew the person next to them was gay or lesbian, just as he would feel uncomfortable if he walked into a men’s room and saw a female in there. For Preston, the issue is about what makes people comfortable.
“I really think [gay people] ought to have their own restrooms,” Preston added. “I can’t speak for them, because I’m not part of that community. But I would think they would feel more comfortable.”
If the fear is people in a bathroom being attracted to other people in the bathroom, wouldn't every gay or bi person need their own individual bathroom
If the fear is people in a bathroom being attracted to other people in the bathroom, wouldn't every gay or bi person need their own individual bathroom
It's about making people comfortable, i.e., heterosexuals.
(Not my views, obviously - just use the fucking bathroom to drop your payload and get out without speculating on everybody else in there, jeez)
Forget about all the horrible times it's been used in the past, I'm sure "they should have their own bathrooms" will be a winning argument this time...
Forget about all the horrible times it's been used in the past, I'm sure "they should have their own bathrooms" will be a winning argument this time...
What if they throw in their own water fountains too, will that seal the deal?
McAuliffe announced the news at a morning press conference called to announce that he was abolishing what he described as a modern-day poll tax: Ex-felons who owe court fees are prohibited from having their voting rights restored.
McAuliffe is not forgiving the debts, but he will end the requirement that the debts be repaid before voting and other civil rights can be restored.
McAuliffe also announced that during his 17-month term, Virginia has restored civil rights to more than 8,250 people — more than any previous governor restored in his full four-year term. He previously announced changes to simplify the restoration of rights process, including reducing the application form from 13 pages to one, and cutting the waiting period from five to three years for more serious offenses.
Posts
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
I imagine it's mostly just an "out of sight, out of mind" type of thought process where they figure they get the law passed, then people forget about the whole these drugs and their use in executions are fucking disgusting thing, and then the pharma companies continue taking piles of money from the Commonwealth.
Out of left field, it might be to prevent the manufacturers from being harassed into stopping production or providing such drugs. USA has a problem with getting anesthesia at the moment because a more common chemical in them gets used in executions as well, and the EU has a ban on providing such chemicals if they could be going towards executions like that. So we get blocked from getting those chemicals.
edit: reading about the bill seems to be to hide the chemicals involved so we can continue to get them. Seems like a side step so hospitals can continue to get the stuff they need, instead of the intent of making us stop killing people.
http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a8970db37d2569f1a2b65e59d&id=905a3c33ae&e=e2008f8fbb
As for the Dominion Bill, well it underwent a radical transformation.
link
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
There is also funding for education listed, including a 2% faculty pay raise (except for UVA, VT and W&M), incentives for institutions with low graduation rates to accept transfers, funding for cancer research and funding for capital construction projects at JMU, VT, Longwood, Radford and VCU.
Basically it looks like an attempt to make their budget look impressive, especially with the lack of comparisons to the Governor's proposed budget except in cases where they are pretty sure the changes will make them look better. I haven't had a chance to look up the proposed budget to see what other differences are not mentioned, though obviously the expansion of Medicaid is a big one.
EDIT: Geth let's be honest: did you only like this post because I compared VCU to gray goo in the initial draft?
Virginia: Still totally illegal to own a Shuriken, Switch blade or brass knuckle.
you laugh but the ninja greaser gang problem is something kids these days don't even remember
Well this is transparent.
The snark was so strong in this article I fell backwards out of my chair by the second paragraph.
That seems super shitty though. I can't believe something like that could possibly pass.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
VA Senate rejects a bill to authorize prayer at public government meetings
Wouldn't have expected Baptist groups to be against it, but apparently they were one of the groups opposed to the bill.
A lot of local governments have had religious leaders from non traditionally represented religions lead prayers before, including muslims. I think it was entirely a "if we cant win, noone can play" situation.
Shame this couldn't happen to the awful Dominion Bill. I'm hoping the Governor vetoes it, but given how the veto works in this state, there are other options (I kind of liked the suggestion, that he should send the bill back where it leaves in the rate freeze but also has rate cuts, just to put all the ratfuckers on the spot. Obviously, if he amends it in any way, it should remove the part of the bill that would remove oversight). I will not be surprised if we see a number of indictments in the future tied to this whole shit show (it's pretty clear corruption and I do wonder if the bill is even legal, since I think it flies in the face of some federal laws).
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/susan_stimpson_is_trying_to_defeat_william_howell_virginia_s_grassroots.html?wpsrc=fol_tw
The potential downside to this is that we potentially lose access to necessary chemicals for medical procedures. Because its more important to be able to kill someone than have anesthesia to save lives. Or did we ever figure out the other reason for the bill besides europes banning they have been doing and "dont let people know how awful lethal injection actually is".
http://m.nbc12.com/nbc12/db_369394/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Tk4uKJTi
With Redistricting news:
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_14c2537e-255b-5452-9c16-e23f545158e6.html
more in the link
Also reminder for any other VA folks: House of Delegates and Senate Primary is today
thing manage to sneak up on me despite seeing the signs everywhere the past few weeks.
Delegate Joe Preston, who is apparently competing for Senator Rosalyn Dance's position this election, has some... unique(ly terrible) views on LGBT Folks using the bathroom:
http://www.metroweekly.com/2015/05/virginia-senate-candidate-thinks-gay-people-should-have-separate-restrooms/
It's about making people comfortable, i.e., heterosexuals.
(Not my views, obviously - just use the fucking bathroom to drop your payload and get out without speculating on everybody else in there, jeez)
Twitch Channel
What if they throw in their own water fountains too, will that seal the deal?
There's this
https://voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicElections.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
but it's only one district at a time
https://voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/PublicSite/Public/FT2/PublicPollingPlace.aspx
It'll be in the "Districts" dropdown
Expect this to play in the next election.
My facebook feed from high school friends has been outright depressing through this.
Good for him.